“While sentiment has improved, investors are reluctant to take any big positions until they see how the balance of the year plays out including the general election and controlling inflation.
“I expect our reporting season will be fairly solid though people won’t be expecting fireworks,” said Lister.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for the eighth straight day – the longest streak since September 2019. It also went through the 35,000 points mark for the first time since early February last year, and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite is now up 37.18 per cent so far this year.
The Dow Jones gained 0.31 per cent to 35,061.21 points; S&P 500 increased 0.24 to 4565.72; and Nasdaq was up 0.03 per cent to 14,358.02.
The buoyant mood on Wall Street has been driven by a strong start to their latest earnings season and less concern about aggressive (interest rate) moves from the Federal Reserve as inflation continues to fall.
At home, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 25c to $24.50; Mainfreight shed $1.35 or 1.86 per cent to $71.05; Auckland International Airport gave up 8c to $8.15; Ryman Healthcare declined 12c to $6.87; and Vulcan Steel decreased 26c or 3.17 per cent to $7.95, falling from $9.29 in a week.
Chorus was down 8c to $8.22; PGG Wrightson declined 11c or 2.63 per cent to $4.08; Black Pearl Group was down 2c or 3.51 per cent to 55c; and Pacific Edge decreased 0.9c or 4.39 per cent to 19.6c.
Napier Port increased 9c or 3.81per cent to $2.45 after reinstating earnings guidance of $34.5m-$36.5m for the year ending September. The port expects nine-month underlying earnings from operations of $29.1m, down from $29.8m in the previous year.
Michael Hill International, unchanged at 99c, reported a 6 per cent increase in group sales to more than $620m for the 53 weeks ending July 2, though second-half sales were down 0.8 per cent, less than expected, because of the challenging conditions.
Australia revenue increased 9.1 per cent to $331m, New Zealand 5.8 per cent to $132.4m and Canada 0.4 per cent to $158.1m. The jewellery retailer expects full-year operating earnings (ebit) of $56m-$59m compared with $62.9m in the 2022 financial year, with margins slightly down.
Fellow retailers Hallenstein Glasson increased 21c or 3.33 per cent to $6.51; Briscoe Group was up 6c to $4.24; and The Warehouse was down 8c or 4.26 per cent to $1.80.
Mercury Energy, gaining 7.5c to $6.475, reported that fourth-quarter generation increased 36 per cent to 1254GWh compared with the previous corresponding period and 42 per cent to 5209GWH for the year – the highest annual Waikato generation since 1966.
Total connections reached 860,000, 61,000 more than a year ago, and mass market yield for the financial year was $154 per MWh, $7/MWh higher than the previous period mainly because of the change in customer mix following the Trustpower retail purchase.
Genesis, up 1.5c to $2.67, told the market that continued strong hydro conditions in the fourth quarter drove lower carbon emissions and reduced portfolio generation costs. Total customers are now 483,721, with a gain of 3779 in the fourth quarter.
Among other energy stocks, Meridian gained 9c to $5.47 and Vector was down 4c to $4.
Livestock Improvement Corporation was up 2c or 1.77 per cent to $1.15 after reporting a 5.1 per cent increase in revenue to $276.5m and 2.4 per cent gain in net profit to $27.35m for the year ending May. The LIC co-operative is paying a final dividend of 16.38c a share on August 18.
Property stocks Stride increased 4c or 2.82 per cent to $1.46, and Argosy was up 2c to $1.18.
Tower rebounded 2.5c or 4.2 per cent to 62c; Arvida Group was up 2c to $1.27; Sanford increased 8c or 1.98 per cent to $4.13; and Gentrack gained 6c to $4.26.
Other gainers were 2 Cheap Cars up 2c or 3.08 per cent to 67c; Accordant Group increasing 5c or 3.76 per cent to $1.38; Carbon Fund adding 3c or 1.81 per cent to $1.69; Geneva Finance improving 2c or 6.06 per cent to 35c; and T&G Global collecting 4c or 2.01 per cent to $2.03.
